(24-10-2012 11:45 PM)Logisch Wrote: Welcome! I can tell you as someone who has been a recovering religion addict from some years ago, one of the best things I've done is find some like minded people local to me.

I struggled with a LOT of things as I made the change over.

- Depression
- Conflicting feelings
- Loss of friends and family

I felt betrayed by people, they treated me very differently when they found out. I've lost some very good friends over them simply knowing I'm an atheist, when we were friends since kids. I learned very quickly who my real friends were.

On top of that, I was really depressed on and off, mostly about coming to terms with reality and dropping my beliefs. I even felt like I was perhaps betraying my own beliefs as I left Christianity for a while. People tried to guilt trip me, tried to make emotional appeals and it was SO tempting to just go back into my comfort zone.

Now looking back... I don't think I could ever go back to religion. I don't see it the same. I can't possibly look at it the same, think about it the same or rationalize it the same. I feel so much better thinking for myself and realizing I'm in control of my life and not some sky daddy watching me masturbate and watch me eat, take a shit and everything else I do.

Coming to terms with death was also a bit of a struggle. But when my view of life changed, my view on it changed to, no longer afraid of it, or concerned about it.

Every time I talk to my family, I sort of feel like Rod Taylor when he gets off the time machine and people are just blindly following along. Or when he asks people about where they find their books, and the books start falling apart. He just sort of looks around and goes, "What's WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?"

Don't worry, Hope. You are not alone, you're NOT the only one and it's fine It is OKAY to be an atheist.

Welcome!

I believe you understand me perfectly.

Reading this really helped what was looking to be a pretty depressing day and really helped me build some perspective on what is to come, sometimes it is difficult to see outside of today.

I am feeling like an ass- I have wanted to bash my head against the wall repeatedly!

It's one thing to be raised in the mormon church and not know anything different and slowly climbing your way out, but for me to turn around dragging my children and husband with me into just another mess!

I am overwhelmed to say the least with guilt and outrage at the stupidity of excepting another "faith".

I have yet to tell my children....I just can't imagine how they will ever look at me and see anything but a confused mess of a mother!

I can see clearly why I ran to another "faith"....my husband of 20 years wasn't joining me and had lied to me for years, how could I trust him.

I had all family members eating me down to nothing as well as so called friends in the mormon church....

I ran to a christian church hoping to find the so called truth!
I was loved and sympathized with and an emotional mess to say the least I wished for death daily!

But still I made a choice and it was wrong!

The most rewarding part about excepting Atheism is realizing I want to live and I want to live more than ever- I see the faces of my children and who they are and not what they need to be.

Thank you so much for taking the time to share with me- It will always been remembered.

If no change in reality can change your belief - Then your belief is not based on anything in reality

(25-10-2012 01:56 PM)Hope Wrote: I am feeling like an ass- I have wanted to bash my head against the wall repeatedly! ... I am overwhelmed to say the least with guilt and outrage at the stupidity of excepting another "faith".

Let it go, water under the bridge, spilt milk and all that. You're not the first to be bamboozled and you won't be the last. Guilt is a counterproductive emotion, no good can ever come of it.

(25-10-2012 01:56 PM)Hope Wrote: I have yet to tell my children....I just can't imagine how they will ever look at me and see anything but a confused mess of a mother!

More likely is they'll recognize the circuitous route their mother took coming to a moment of clarity and appreciate having the shortcut.

(25-10-2012 02:02 PM)Hope Wrote: Trust me you wouldn't enjoy trying to hide those magic underwear! That was the first thing I threw away....I should have burnt them! And yes they do come in different sizes!

Hope, I'm not ex-Mormon but I know probably most everything there is to know about it, including the stuff they won't tell you at temple and the stuff they won't tell me about temple. I live in Salt Lake City and just this year was engaged to a Mormon woman. She broke it off because I wasn't Mormon enough, even though she knew I wasn't a Mormon from the first date and she also claimed to realize that using our relationship to try to convert me would be unfair to both of us. To her credit, she never tried to, but eventually she realized that she needed a husband with the priesthood and all that jazz - you know the drill. I guess I dodged a bullet - that religion thing would have been a big elephant in every room of the house.

In any case, welcome, I'm glad you made it out, and you can always PM me if you want to chat privately.

P.S. don't let these folks on the forum scare you away; they're more bark than bite.

"Whores perform the same function as priests, but far more thoroughly." - Robert A. Heinlein

(25-10-2012 03:46 PM)Aseptic Skeptic Wrote: She broke it off because I wasn't Mormon enough, even though she knew I wasn't a Mormon from the first date and she also claimed to realize that using our relationship to try to convert me would be unfair to both of us.

(25-10-2012 03:46 PM)Aseptic Skeptic Wrote: She broke it off because I wasn't Mormon enough, even though she knew I wasn't a Mormon from the first date and she also claimed to realize that using our relationship to try to convert me would be unfair to both of us.

Well I hope you at least nailed the shit out of that pussy first.

Yeah, I wish, though I might not have used those words...

Unfortunately, Mormons hold strongly to the idea of no sex out of marriage (though not every Mormon strictly follows those teachings) and my fiancee was on the strict side of this belief. Ah, well...

"Whores perform the same function as priests, but far more thoroughly." - Robert A. Heinlein

(25-10-2012 01:56 PM)Hope Wrote: I am feeling like an ass- I have wanted to bash my head against the wall repeatedly! ... I am overwhelmed to say the least with guilt and outrage at the stupidity of excepting another "faith".

Let it go, water under the bridge, spilt milk and all that. You're not the first to be bamboozled and you won't be the last. Guilt is a counterproductive emotion, no good can ever come of it.

(25-10-2012 01:56 PM)Hope Wrote: I have yet to tell my children....I just can't imagine how they will ever look at me and see anything but a confused mess of a mother!

More likely is they'll recognize the circuitous route their mother took coming to a moment of clarity and appreciate having the shortcut.

(25-10-2012 02:02 PM)Hope Wrote: Trust me you wouldn't enjoy trying to hide those magic underwear! That was the first thing I threw away....I should have burnt them! And yes they do come in different sizes!

Hide it, shit I'm looking to wear them as outer garments.

Really?? 'GirlyMan'
Letting it go is easy to say- My intentions for joining this forum were to not be alone in all of the shit I am dealing with!
I have no idea who you are or what journey you have taken to come to where you are today, I don't believe ignoring or brushing my worries away are the healthiest thing for me to do- if anything that is what I have been doing for the past 40years!
I'm sorry I may just be overacting and please just try to understand this is extremely hard- I am the only Atheist that I know of in my circle of family & friends that is why I have been searching for some support.
Can I just speak my mind and work through this?
I don't want a pity party- just some understanding.

If no change in reality can change your belief - Then your belief is not based on anything in reality

Hope,
Welcome...you will come to learn the personalities here, just realize they are many and varied. Girly's one of the good guys.

Can I ask just how many are "tons" of children? And what age spread are we talking about...they will all have to be handled differently when it comes to accepting or at least understanding your change from faith to faith to non-belief.

It must be hard to feel so alone in your own family.

There are people here that are willing to listen and who want to help...even if the best help is listening.

See here they are the bruises some were self-inflicted and some showed up along the way. - JF

(25-10-2012 01:56 PM)Hope Wrote: I am feeling like an ass- I have wanted to bash my head against the wall repeatedly! ... I am overwhelmed to say the least with guilt and outrage at the stupidity of excepting another "faith".

Let it go, water under the bridge, spilt milk and all that. You're not the first to be bamboozled and you won't be the last. Guilt is a counterproductive emotion, no good can ever come of it.

(25-10-2012 01:56 PM)Hope Wrote: I have yet to tell my children....I just can't imagine how they will ever look at me and see anything but a confused mess of a mother!

More likely is they'll recognize the circuitous route their mother took coming to a moment of clarity and appreciate having the shortcut.

(25-10-2012 02:02 PM)Hope Wrote: Trust me you wouldn't enjoy trying to hide those magic underwear! That was the first thing I threw away....I should have burnt them! And yes they do come in different sizes!

Hide it, shit I'm looking to wear them as outer garments.

Magic fundoshi!

Skepticism is not a position; it is an approach to claims.
Science is not a subject, but a method.